Calumet (train)

The Calumet was a 43.9-mile (70.7 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois and Valparaiso, Indiana. Despite Amtrak's mandate to provide only intercity service, the Calumet was a commuter train. Transferred from Conrail in 1979, the full route was shared with Amtrak's Broadway Limited until 1990; the Calumet was discontinued the next year.

History

The service first ran August 30, 1869, called the Chicago-Valparaiso Accommodation, though usually colloquially referred to as the "Valpo Local" or "The Dummy",^[1] by the Pennsylvania Railroad on its Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, its main line from Pittsburgh west to Chicago. From April 1, 1871 until January 1, 1920, the Pennsylvania Company operated the line.^[2] After that it returned to direct operation by the Pennsylvania Railroad until February 1, 1968, when the PRR was merged into Penn Central Transportation. With the May 1, 1971 startup of Amtrak, all Penn Central intercity trains were taken over by Amtrak, but Penn Central continued to run commuter trains in several metropolitan areas, including the Valpo Local. The formation of the Regional Transportation Authority in Illinois in 1973 did not help, as the service ran into Indiana.

A May 7, 1973 survey of customers revealed that 37% would not take the train if the fare was doubled. 28% would continue to pay, and 34% were undecided.^[3] The bankrupt Penn Central merged into Conrail on April 1, 1976, which continued operations until 1979, at which point Amtrak took over.^[4] The route was also served by the daily Broadway Limited to New York City, and on October 1, 1981 the daily Capitol Limited to Washington, DC began using it.

Due to Conrail's desire to abandon part of the former PRR main line, the Broadway Limited and Capitol Limited were rerouted respectively onto the former New York Central Railroad and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines on November 11, 1990, leaving about half of the Calumet route with no other service.^[5] Amtrak announced that it would discontinue the Calumet on December 31.^[6] Representative Peter J. Visclosky introduced H.R. 5660 to require Amtrak to continue operations until July 1, 1991 to allow time for the State of Indiana to consider subsidizing the route. The date was changed to May 6 and the mandate was included in S. 3012, an amendment to the Independent Safety Board Act of 1974, signed into law November 28, 1990 by George H. W. Bush as Public Law No. 101-641. Indiana decided not to pass any subsidies, and the weekday-only Calumet last ran Friday, May 3, 1991.^[7]

Commuter service from Chicago into northern Indiana is still provided by the South Shore Line, operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District over its own alignment, closer to Lake Michigan than the Calumet. On August 1, 2004 the Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad started freight operations over the old route of the Calumet and beyond.

^ Christopher T. Baer, PRR Chronology - 1869 (PDF)
^ Interstate Commerce Commission, Corporate Genealogy - Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago
^ Christopher T. Baer, PRR Chronology - 1973 (PDF)
^ Chicago Commuter Equipment from the Recent Past
^ Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991
^ Peter J. Visclosky, Keep Commuter Rail on Track (September 18, 1990)
^ Arrivals and Departures, Trains July 1991